Flash of Steel
by yamikinoko
Summary: ANBU probation, for the simple reason that you were a successful woman in a man's world. And now you're assigned a team of genin? If you were TenTen, you'd be pissed off too. But then again, how do you play with the boys without becoming one of them?
1. Prologue: The World in Red and White

**Disclaimer**: _I do not own __**Naruto**__. It is the property of __**Masashi Kishimoto**__; I merely borrow the characters for my own amusement.

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**Flash of Steel  
-Prologue: The World In Red and White**

_The world was a field of white and red, and for a moment, she was drowning in it._

_/The blade in her hand emitted a sickening –slurr- as it cut through abdominal muscles and irreparably tore the intestinal lining. She didn't spare the dying man even a glance as she whirled onto the next opponent, cutting, slashing…/_

_The next, she had dropped to her knees beside him, the bottom half of her shirt carelessly ripped away and wadded to the worst of the wounds—instantly, the _white_ cloth was stained _red_. A desperate look over his body confirmed her worst fears—his _white_ clothing was torn in places all over, and dyed with alarming splashes of_ red_. _Neji, oh gods, Neji…

_/Her wrist flicked, and a handful of poisoned senbon shot through the air to bury themselves in the enemy's throat. The choked gurgle was lost in another's scream as his limbs were hacked off by scything blades. Move, keep moving, kill. Keep _killing_./_

_A rasping crunch accompanied a heavy weight that crashed into the ground beside her, and perhaps she imagined it, but the frozen ground cracked a bit around them. She looked up and her heart nearly stopped. _Lee_. His trademark green jumpsuit was in smoking tatters, his skin still _red_ from forcing open so many gates. His limbs were twisted in gruesome angles, and the _white_ of bone jutted through his flesh, framed by the rush of more _red_. Was he breathing? She realized with a stab of despair that she couldn't tell._

_/It was supposed to be a routine mission—assassinate the mob leader, return the stolen scroll to Sand. She nicked her thumb on the razor edge of her scroll and _summoned_. A deadly wave of steel rained down towards the veritable _army _of shinobi Lightning had sent after them. Screams rent the air as bones were shattered, limbs were severed, flesh was punctured and _through. _The once pristine landscape was drenched in blood, and it was then that her three teammates moved in./_

_Beneath her hands, the flow of blood began to slow, but at the same time, his eyelids were fluttering closed over moon-pale eyes. Why, oh _why_ hadn't she been a medic like Sakura? Why hadn't she focused on something other than her damn weapons training? If she had… If she had, then she would be able to save Lee, she'd be able to keep Neji alive, her teammates were more important to her than her life, and if they died, it would be _her_ fault for not studying something _useful_ like _medicine_…_

_/With her teammates weaving in and out and between the enemy, she couldn't risk another flood of weapons, but she did pick off the enemy by the dozens from her vantage point, until she ran out of projectiles. Then she joined the fray./_

_A rumbling shook the earth, as a wave of power blasted hot and overwhelming over her face. She whipped her head around to see her teacher, who had thus far been keeping the enemy-nin at bay against overwhelming odds. His skin was _red_, growing darker like fire and ash, like blood spreading, and she instinctively knew that her teacher was forcing open the last Gate. _No_, she wanted to yell, but the sheer force of his power dried her throat before the words would come. _No, not you too, Gai-_sensei._

_The world exploded._

If only I were a medic, _was her one grim, bitter thought before she cast herself over her fallen teammates to shield them from the blast_, If only I were a medic, then I could heal them_._

_When her vision was cleared of light-spots, she noticed one last handful of Lightning-nin approaching eagerly, _ninja _who had somehow managed to escape being blasted to pieces by the sheer force of Gai-sensei's final attack, curse them._

Weak prey, _their bloodstained expressions shouted gleefully_, Easy prey_._

Damn you, _TenTen thought eloquently, shifting so she could hold the_ red_-soaked cloth to Neji's bleeding side with her knee, and held her hands up, fingers spread. Like a puppeteer._ I wish I was a medic, _she thought once more, and then it was time to focus._

_Instantly, her_ _chakra_ _strings were activated to the steel blanket of weapons beneath the heavier layer of corpses, and with an earsplitting, grating noise_, _they scraped free to hang suspended in the air, peppering the clearing with the shine of steel and black of stained blood. The enemy-nin paused, wary. With a long exhalation of breath that was more of a guilty sigh than anything, she pulled her hands apart in a quick, jerky movement._

_Her weapons obeyed, and sped in the direction of her hands, impaling, skewering, decapitating the unfortunate ninja in their paths. Wearily, TenTen turned back to her teammates. The edge of the scroll that was the impetus of this mission peeked from the edge of Neji's robes, but her eyes did not remain there. Instead, she looked at the still faces of her teammates, at the_ red _and the_ white _that was her world…_

_She tilted her head back and let out a heartrending scream—_

"She passes."

At the man's gravelly voice, the colors in her world bled out and the bodies disappeared until all that was left were the heavy stone walls of ANBU Test Room 3. TenTen looked around, disoriented until her eyes focused on a wild-haired woman with familiar red eyes…

"Kurenai-sensei," she croaked, and her throat felt the rawness of a phantom scream, and her body the aches and pains of a phantom fight. No, wait—those were from her physical examination. Those wounds hidden under makeshift bandages were real.

Kurenai smiled at her with the embedded softness of a mother, "Congratulations, TenTen. You passed."

TenTen stared at her for a moment longer, then, "But I didn't—I didn't—"

She remembered now. After the written test, the trials, she had walked into this room, had bowed to a panel of three judges, and sat in this – very uncomfortable, she noticed now – chair and let Kurenai-senseicapture her in a genjutsu. As a mainly taijutsu and ninjutsu based ninja, her task was to break the genjutsu any way she knew how. (It was understood that a simple kai would not be effective.)

"As if a brat like you could break through such a highly advanced genjutsu," the gravelly male voice spoke again from the table, and TenTen looked up, rather surprised that the man who belonged to the voice was a short, wiry old man she didn't recognize, with salt and pepper hair, "As if we'd tell you what you were really getting tested for."

"What Elder Daiki means to say," Kurenai translated patiently, "is that your genjutsu resistance is a number on your stats. What we were really testing for was mental resilience." She let that sink in for a while, then continued, "Of course, your psych report was delivered along with your application, so I had something to work off of."

TenTen was understandably skeptical, and her natural curiosity would not be daunted by a crotchety old man, Elder or no, "My psych report doesn't cover much more than whether or not I am mentally sane and fit for duty."

Kurenai grinned wryly, "And I may have asked Gai a few questions."

The door opened then, to allow the entrance of her teammates, both of whom looked worse for wear.

"TenTen! We have completed the last part of the test with all the power of youth!" Though obviously not any less exuberant.

The last bit of tension left her shoulders, which she hadn't realized she still held, at the sight of them, alive, and not bleeding to death in some godsforsaken field. And if they were alive, then Gai-sensei—

"My students, are you well?" his voice boomed from far down the hall, before the staccato of pounding feet drowned out the weary sighs of the proctors. The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha skidded to a stop in the doorway, and even Neji did not have the presence of mind to dodge the bone-crushing manly hug that was promptly bestowed. And Lee of course, did not mind, hugging back just as enthusiastically.

"Oh, my youthful students, it does my heart much good to see you alive, and in one piece after your exam! I am so proud of you all! Now quickly, we must be off to the hospital, so that you may have your injuries examined and so you may rest and restore your youthfulness for training tomorrow!" he released them, though reluctantly, and peered about the room, "Now, where is our youthful blossom? Ah, TenTen!"

With a relieved smile, TenTen hauled herself up from the chair, and what she did next surprised even her, as she took the last two steps into Gai's charging embrace, and clutched him tight in a grasp that held more strength than his momentarily surprised one,

"We're here, Gai-sensei," she whispered into his broad, green-clad chest, and knew without looking that he was dissolving into manly tears above her, "_We're all here._"

* * *

It was late into the night by the time they exited ANBU headquarters, and rushed over to the hospital.

_Team Gai has passed all three sections of the ANBU exam,_ _Kurenai_-_sensei_ had said, _Now you only have to wait until the end of the month to find out whether or not they want you._

So now, Team Gai was in the hospital getting checked up. Gai-senseiwas not even permitted to enter, because the man simply did not know the meaning of an "indoor voice," let alone a proper volume to use in a hospital. This didn't stop him from promising to visit as soon as the hospital opened, however, and he left, having only woken up half of the wing's patients (which was good, considering as it _is_ Gai).

Neji, she already knew, was suffering symptoms of severe chakra depletion and multiple lacerations. He was confined to bed rest and currently situated in a single further down the hall, courtesy of the Hyuuga family's influence. Lee was in the bed beside her, eyes wide in adoration as they followed the pink-haired medic about the room.

Sakura had announced that Lee was suffering from a slight ankle fracture, torn muscles and ligaments, and forbade Lee from wearing weights. Lee, being Lee, had promptly saluted (though it must have hurt, a _lot_), and with a good-guy pose promised,

"I shall refrain from wearing ankle weights until Monday morning! If I do, then I shall run five hundred laps around Konoha, with double the weights on both legs!"

Normally, Sakura would have laughed, or even looked askance at Lee's admittedly hard-to-get-used-to, boisterous personality, but not today. Today she was a medic in her hospital, and Lee was a high-risk patient, well, high-risk to himself. She settled for looking at him sternly, "I mean it, Lee. If I see you back in here for aggravated injuries, I am _not_ going to be happy."

TenTen chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Sakura. I'll keep him in line. We'll take it easy during training and—" she stopped as Sakura turned to glare at her, "Training? You're not going to be training until you're fully healed. Gods, only Team Gai. This was the freaking ANBU test, okay? Most people aren't up and walking for at least a month!"

Lee looked a bit anxious at his beloved's ire, but TenTen only laughed, "Actually, the longest anyone's been in the hospital and still passed was a week. Shouldn't we be happy we're going to get out after a few days?"

"That will be determined after I take a look at your injuries," Sakura said firmly, making the last few marks on Lee's sheet and picking up TenTen's clipboard, "So, hurt anywhere?"

As TenTen answered Sakura's questions (which were typical of any other post-mission checkup, really), her mind drifted back to the genjutsu test she had just taken, and she found herself asking, before she could stop herself,

"Hey, Sakura? Do you think I could learn any simple medical techniques without giving up my weapons?"

There was a brief silence as Sakura looked up from the clipboard and gave her an unreadable look. In the adjacent bed, Lee looked curious, but not surprised, and even looked away as TenTen hurried to add, "Well, I mean, I know there's no such thing as a medical combat kunoichi but, I don't know, do you think I'd be able to learn some medical jutsu to, say, stop blood, or set broken bones…?"

Sakura tilted her head in thought, but the shrewd expression on her face didn't go away, "Well… I'd say it's possible. It's a matter of learning different chakra flows for each technique, but I guess I could teach you some basics," she returned to making notes on her clipboard as she continued, "You won't be performing heart surgery any time soon, but I can teach you how to cure a cold, staunch blood flow, re-knit torn flesh, you know, stuff like that if you like."

TenTen smiled gratefully, "That'd be nice," she said simply.

Sakura smiled back. The rest of the checkup went quickly enough; TenTen had a couple of serious lacerations that required stitches, a few severe burns and too many scrapes and cuts to count. Sakura redid their bandages and with another stern order for them to abstain from training until the week was over, left to check on her other patients.

The room was silent for a moment after she left, and TenTen finally looked over at Lee. He was staring back at her with wide, dark eyes, and such a somber expression on his face that she instantly knew the horrors he had experienced in his final test had likely rivaled hers. Wordlessly, with a grimace here and there, she slid out of her hospital bed and pushed it on creaking wheels over to his, so that they could sit side by side.

The door to their room opened quietly as TenTen was struggling with the window above their two beds, and when they both turned to look, a haggard Neji was closing the door behind him. Still, nothing was said as he came to them, and they both made room for him without comment. They sat in silence while TenTen wrestled the window into submission, and lay down between them. Cool night air flowed into the room, dulling the sharp smell of antiseptic and the mustiness of bandages.

And they still said nothing.

Tomorrow, they knew, there would be a crowd of friends and family waiting to congratulate them, on surviving and passing the ANBU exam. Tomorrow, there would be many people at the Leaf Brewery, ready to celebrate with loud music and copious amounts of alcohol the achievements of the first of their generation to apply to ANBU. Tomorrow, there would be noise, and laughter, and joy, and they would look forward to it, because they _deserved_ it.

But tonight, with the tang of blood and the pained, dying gasps of loved ones fresh in their minds, they closed their eyes, and breathed, and held each other for comfort. Tomorrow, the world would return, _red_ and _white_ and all the colors in between, and they would belong to that world once again. But tonight…

Tonight was theirs. They rested in the night's calm, secure.

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**A/N**: Alright, here we go—I'm starting a chapter!fic. Hopefully, I'll have enough presence of mind (read: dedication) to finish it. Starting from chapters after this one, I'm going to start with a memory/flashback from one of the characters that have something to do (or, as I get lazy, nothing to do) with the upcoming chapter. As this was the prologue, well… That obviously didn't happen with this one.

Just as a general warning, this is a fic that focuses mainly on TenTen and Team Gai's development through time. I'm not saying that there won't be pairings (TenTen and co. and the Rookie 9 are at that youthful age where romance and attachments abound, you know), but do keep in mind that I have no pairings really planned out. (We'll see how long that lasts—probably not even till the next chapter.)

And now, with that whopper of an author's note to finish off the prologue (it won't be a habit, I promise you that), what did you think? Like it? Could read it without stabbing your eyeballs out as per Oedipus? "That-was-awful-don't-even-bother-updating" horrid? Oh man, I hope it's not the latter…

Till next chapter~~

**Edited**: 08/31/10


	2. Hint of Dawn

_Hard though it may be to imagine, Team Gai had to work tirelessly for the seamless teamwork that was their trademark today._

_(Well, teamwork and inhumane training, but most ninja prefer to admire them for the former.)_

_It is a well-known fact that Neji and Lee have been Eternal Rivals, since the moment of their graduation from the Academy, somewhat in the way that their loopy teacher and that notorious Copy Ninja were bywords and endless sources of amusement in their youthful days. Needless to say, countless challenges and trips to the hospital were not at all conducive to a friendly, bond-building environment, and Neji's ceaseless barbs certainly did not help things any._

Why bother? You're just going to lose.

Accept it. You will always be a loser.

Give up. As if a weakling like you could ever become a ninja.

_It is a slightly lesser-known fact that Neji rather _despised_ Lee, from the bottom of his cold, bitter, Hyuuga heart. (Most people assumed that he was too cool to care. This is a wrong assumption.) Neji despised Lee for his boundless enthusiasm (which came across as the naïveté of a dreaming idiot), for his determination (which came across as a futile attempt to defy fate), and not least of all for his flamboyant fashion sense (which, on top of burning his precious Byakugan eyes on a daily basis, came across as a failure seeking attention because he could receive it no other way)._

_Unexpectedly, in a psychopathic sort of way, Neji rather enjoyed Lee's repetitive challenges. It soothed a ragged portion of his tortured soul to wholly destroy (if only temporarily) the other boy's dismal struggle against fate._

_On the other hand, it is a completely unknown fact that TenTen hated Neji with all of her _being_, having met him for the first time, at their very first team meeting._

_(This is a truth that perhaps only Gai knew, when he trained his youthful youngsters who did not get along, and one that will be confessed to her teammates, years and years later, when there is nothing that can possibly break through their bond.)_

"_Now," their teacher says, or more accurately, announces loudly, "I'd like you to say a little something about yourselves." And he looks expectantly at the sullen boy with white Hyuuga eyes, leaning with a distinct air of displeasure against the balcony railing._

_There is a marked moment of silence, before, "Hyuuga Neji. I have nothing to say."_

_Another beat, _He is a bitter lad, I must tread carefully, _then Gai lets this go, turning next to the second of his three-man cell, who is this adorable little slip of a girl, with panda buns and a pink shirt. _Our blossom_, he thinks fondly, and then she is speaking,_

"_My name is TenTen, and I want to be a legendary kunoichi, just like the great Tsunade-_sama!" _she glances to her new teammate to her left, who has let out a fast puff of air that suspiciously resembles a scoff of disbelief. She is slightly disheartened, but lets this pass without comment._

Gai _is nonetheless pleased with her response. Our _youthful_ blossom, he amends silently to himself, and has to fight to keep his face stoic. He is proud of her already._

_Next to her, the young boy he has seen before, whose eyes are fierce with the fire of _youth_, and whose voice, though lacking the full power of _youth_, is steady and sure as he flings a hand into the air,_

"_Gai-sensei_! _My name is Rock Lee, and I want to prove that someone without chakra can still become an excellent shinobi!"_

_And Gai smiles then, a blinding flash of teeth that the three genin are not quite used to yet, "That is an admirable goal!" he declares, with a thumbs-up and wink that his students come to associate with the _Nice Guy Pose. _And to Neji's horror (and Lee's amazement), manly tears of joy begin running down his rugged cheeks, as he begins a long speech expounding upon the beauty and springtime of youth. They come to recognize this as his version of a pep talk._

_Right now, though, TenTen doesn't notice this, as her head is down, and her bangs are shielding her eyes. She is shaking, but not from horrified disgust, as Neji may be doing, or with excitement and awe, as Lee is definitely doing, no._

_She is furious, because she had definitely heard Neji's chuckle of derision this time, and seen his condescending smirk, and though she feels no special love for the loudmouth-boy that is the other member of her team, she immediately feels as though they are on the same side, and this rude, haughty boy was on the other._

_And they were going to prove him _wrong.

_That was when they first met. Neji never took back his harsh words and bleak predictions, but he didn't have to. He and Lee are still Eternal Rivals, just as Gai and Kakashi participate in the silliest of competitions every other spare hour, but there is a mutual respect between them that even Challenge #2,743 can't break. Lee forgives as easily as he breathes, and though Neji once thought to issue his now friend, now precious-teammate an apology, he soon realized that Lee did not want, nor need one. His genuine respect, and willingness to entrust his life was enough._

_TenTen began warming up to him when she realized that he needed them as much as they needed him to grow stronger, though, as was her wont, she continued holding a grudge, and only accepted him once Naruto had knocked most of that damned _stick _out of his pretentious Hyuuga ass. Gone were the days when she would pretend that Lee should just _stopchallenging Neji already, because you'll always lose, _gone were the days when getting better was to prove a point to him, rather than to herself._

_She would never be as forgiving as Lee, but she never allowed him to apologize for damaging her fragile self-esteem either._

_It is enough that they _need_ each other._

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**Disclaimer**: _Hmm… Does TenTen have a major part in _Naruto? _No? Then darned if I don't own the series._

**A/N**: _Do I actually think that Kishimoto meant for TenTen to hate Neji? Not at all. If that were so, she could have joined the ranks of Narutites with tragic pasts, and _gotten some actual screentime. _Am I bitter? Nahhh…_

_I know that I did promise a lot of people that this chapter was 'coming soon' but I hit a rather large snag partway through, and this monstrosity of a chapter emerged after I (somewhat) beat it into submission. Long, long chapter ahead. Proceed at your own caution!_

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**Flash of Steel  
-Hint of Dawn**

"GodsDAMMIT!"

The glass hit the table with a heavy –whump- and there was a slighter, but no less ominous, -crack- to accompany it. Her two teammates traded wary looks, but said nothing as she gestured for another drink. The bartender promptly scurried over, but it was clear from his face (blanched white) that he wanted nothing to do with the seething, inebriated kunoichi.

He was one of the braver ones though, as most of the bar had cleared out the moment the weapons mistress had entered in a fury of slammed doors and scathing glares.

TenTen watched with a critical eye as he topped the glass from a pitcher held in hands that trembled and promptly snatched it up for another large gulp. Even late into the night, her dark brown hair was still immaculately tied in their trademark buns, even if her hitai-ate was currently tied loosely around her neck. Apparently, TenTen had a habit of running her fingers through her bangs when agitated.

In the stool beside her, a long-suffering look on his finely-chiseled features, Neji opened his mouth as though to say something, something probably characteristically sharp and practical, but perhaps some sense of self-preservation kicked in, so that he merely closed it again without a word. TenTen leveled a bloodshot glare at him anyway,

"Don't you say anything, Hyuuga Neji," she bit out, surprisingly coherent for someone as sloshed as she appeared to be, "I know I'm being unreasonable, I know I'm probably fulfilling their expectations about me, but I _know_ that I don't bloody well care right now."

She paused to take another swig of beer as he muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Which is usually the problem."

She squinted at him until the black and white blur that was the blob next to her narrowed somewhat into focus as Neji again, "And while we're at it, I ought to add that the Council of Elders can shove their politics and their outdated, chauvinistic ideas up their respective asses, 'cause I don't care 'bout them either."

"TenTen, such language does not befit a youthful blossom such as yourself," Lee said chidingly, not for the first time that night. He offered her a Gai-patented "nice-guy" grin that was only slightly strained around the edges as she turned her glare on him, though it was hard to find his dark eyes in the blur of green.

"It's not like you're the ones who got put on probation and have to teach little monsters who can't even throw a kunaistraight," she retorted, "I have every right to be upset."

"But dear TenTen, it is such a glorious honor to impart the tenacious will of fire to eager children blooming in their springtime of youth, much as Gai-sensei did for us!"

"Maybe when I'm _older_! I'm young, and I should be out there with you guys, not stuck on freaking babysitting duty!"

Privately, Neji agreed with her. Theirs was an elite team, the best offensive strike team the village of Konoha had seen in decades, and it was simply ridiculous for any of them to be taken out of action in the prime of their careers to teach genin. And female though TenTen may be, she was no soft touch with kids.

_There is politics at work here_, he mused, as he surveyed his teammates bickering like children.

How very right he was.

* * *

_The Council Hall of Konoha was adequately but simply furnished with an arrangement of tables and chairs in the symbol of the Leaf, which made the passing of documents simple for the two secretaries who sat back to back in the middle of the pointed oval. Paintings and photographs of past Hokage, renowned shinobi and elders alike peppered the walls in a tasteful arrangement that spoke of a fraction of Konoha's history, even as the village's present leadership fulfilled their duty within those decorated stone walls._

_The Godaime_ _sat (or sprawled really, as this _was_ Tsunade) in a chair relegated to the part of the leaf arrangement that represented the stem, her personal assistant, Shizune behind her. For all her relaxed and comfortable position, the atmosphere in the room was anything but. Quiet discussion usually took place even as a fellow Elder spoke, but now, as the floor was technically free for open discourse, a dead hush permeated the room. The Elders were certainly too well-trained to show their anxiety, but a few cast quick glances at their Hokage, who had a rather alarming little smile on her face and dangerous glint in her amber eyes._

_After a long moment of uncomfortable silence, she finally spoke, in a low, measured, "let's-talk-like-reasonable-adults" sort of tone, and immediately the entire room knew that the Godaime was furious,_

"_May I ask _why_ this matter, which undeniably falls under ANBU and _my_ jurisdiction, is brought up before the Council? More importantly, _why_ are you breaking up my best strike team when there are more than enough available jounin to teach the Academy brats?"_

_More silence. That deceptively sweet smile twisted those perfect, ruby-red lips to bare a set of perfectly aligned teeth up to a pair of sharp canines: a predator's smile, dominant and challenging. The temperature in the room dropped a few more degrees._

_After a long, _longer _pause, a braver (or more foolhardy, depending on which way you chose to look at it) Elder stood up, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles from his robes. The full force of Tsunade's displeasure was turned immediately on him, and there was another marked pause before he began, in a tone that spoke of long practice in being simultaneously placating and condescending,_

"_Esteemed Lady Hokage, with all due respect, the protection of our village's future is without a doubt the responsibility of the Council of Elders. As I am sure you are aware, the population of Our village has dwindled in the past years, both because of the recent war as well as a decline in birthrate. It is in Our village's best interests to ensure the likelihood of the next generation, and this duty invariably falls under the jurisdiction of the Council._

"_As for the ANBU applicant in question, We are informed that this young woman is the youngest combat kunoichi in ANBU history to pass the exam. We are understandably concerned about her physical and mental wellbeing, as well as her future plans for motherhood—"_

"'_Plans for motherhood?_' _For _motherhood_?_" _Tsunade repeated in astonishment, and more than a hint of disgust, "What makes you think she plans to have a couple of snot-nosed brats anyway?"_

_The Elder continued unruffled, "As well as her future plans for motherhood, as she fulfills her natural duty to her village—"_

_Tsunade interrupted again, and the somewhat-pleasant expression on her face had morphed into something more closely resembling _unadulterated fury_, "This isn't about TenTen's well-being at all. You arrogant, stuffed old stick!" About here, Shizune gave a little –ahem- of consternation that was duly ignored, "This is about your personal agenda against career kunoichi, and let me tell you—"_

"_If I may, Lady Hokage," another Elder injected smoothly, and Tsunade grumpily reflected that she had just heard the metaphorical sound of several pairs of sandal-clad, arthritic joints jumping onto the bandwagon, "I believe my fellow Councilman has brought up a valid point. Combat _kunoichi_ have been a point of debate for decades, and for good reason. Mother Nature has decreed that women have the soft temperament suitable for nursing children, and it is this temperament that—"_

Blah, blah, blah,_ Tsunade thought uncharitably in her head, as the Elder continued, much in the same vein that others had done before her—women are meant to stay home, be mothers, blah blah, shouldn't go out doing manly things like fighting wars and holding weapons and killing people, no, protecting your country is _not feminine_—lie back and think of Konoha, etc. etc._

_What was going on here, she realized, with not a little bit of disgust, was log-rolling at its finest. Doubtless, it was _hey, support me in my personal war against combat kunoichi like my ex-wife, and I'll support you in your next bridge-building, construction-approving, tourist-attracting, whatever-stupidity venture! _Though of course, with a considerably larger amount of fancy speeches and schmoozing going on. Tsunade sighed, already working on loopholes to exploit._

"…_and as a result, We propose that the aforementioned ANBU applicant undergo a probationary period, pursuant to the bylaws of ANBU. Concurrently, the probationer shall be assigned a genin cell, so as to fully utilize their time in service to their village, until such time as the genin cell is deemed fit for duty as a chuunin squad. Furthermore, We suggest that the probationer in question attend regular omiai_ _meetings until such time that—"_

"_Agreed, but for the last point," Tsunade interrupted once more (Shizune fidgeted), feeling the beginnings of a headache start and thinking longingly of the jar of sake tucked into the bottom drawer of her desk, "Neither the Council nor the Hokage have the jurisdiction to meddle in the private affairs of Konoha's _shinobi_, unless it interferes with their duty. TenTen will be put on ANBU probation, and shall be assigned a genin_ _team."_

_The Council was understandably surprised at her ready acceptance of the terms, and before any could object, she had stamped the Hokage's seal on the newly written order and moved onto the matter of a trade agreement with Suna. Even if they did have time to react, it was unlikely any of them would have said anything. After all, this case set an auspicious precedent for the anti-combat _kunoichi_ camp, and they would be able to put just about any combat _kunoichi _around their twenties on ANBU probation. No doubt they were clapping themselves on their rheumatic backs for a decisive win._

_If so, then they didn't know their Hokage at all._

_

* * *

_

"Perhaps you ought to cease partaking of alcoholic beverages, dearest TenTen," Lee suggested nervously, though his nice-guy smile never wavered, "You have had several too many already."

TenTen shrugged, and downed the contents of—how many glasses had she had already? She couldn't remember. Oh well.

"Lee is right," Neji said sternly, in clipped tones, pulling down her hand when she made to gesture for another, "It's a wonder you haven't passed out already."

"I'm n'gonna pass out," she said petulantly, shaking her head in a comic display of furious indignation, "Ino throws parties with fifty times more booze," then, "Ooh. That wasn't smart." TenTen sighed, a bit shakily, and put her forehead down on the countertop (it was clean, she hoped), "I'm n'angry anymore, either. I think 'm gonna be depressed, and tha's no fun."

"Depression usually isn't," Neji replied dryly, handing her empty glass back to the bartender and placing a few bills of large denomination on the table for tip.

For a moment, he debated the relative merits of getting TenTen home before she passed out (or threw up) and not having to witness Lord Hiashi's reaction when he saw the countless pints of alcohol charged to the Hyuuga account under Neji's name. It wasn't much of a choice—he reached into the inner pocket of his robe and pulled out a thick wad of cash and placed that on the counter too.

Lee was already helping TenTen stand, all the while spouting encouragements about everything from youth to, well, youth, chattering on so rapidly that it was another skill altogether that he did not pause for air. However, despite her sour mood, Neji caught a tired, wry smile on her face as he followed his teammates into the cool night air.

(Behind them, the bartender finally let out a huge sigh of relief and sank bonelessly into a chair. Even if the Hyuuga tipped generously, he would rather they never came again. Oh, the hazards of keeping business in a Hidden Village!)

* * *

Lee and TenTen's apartment lay on the outer circle of the city, where rent was cheaper but the commute was generally longer. The walk wasn't long, even with an intoxicated, slightly stumbling TenTen, but Neji somewhat grumpily registered the time to be four in the morning when they finally arrived at the front door.

He shifted TenTen's arm more securely over his shoulder, having taken charge of her when Lee had to fish through his pockets for the key (though how hard it could be to find a scrap of metal in a spandex bodysuit, he would never know). After several moments of fruitless searching, and well, impatient glares, Lee finally pulled out the shiny, silver key with a pose of triumph. Neji rolled his pale eyes as Lee squinted in the dim glow of a lamppost further down the street, trying to fit the key into the doorknob. (Neji should have just used the copy they had given him—at least he could see in the dark.)

A few fumbling attempts later, they were in. Lee made a beeline for the door to their bedroom, and, with a caution born of long experience, carefully eased back the door just a crack, enough for his arm to slip through. His searching fingers found the metal catch suspended by wires behind the door, and gingerly pulled it back towards the doorframe, where he hooked it onto a nail driven into the lintel.

TenTen got the idea to rig traps about her living space one disastrous day, having spent an extremely unpleasant afternoon ridding her old apartment of the green slime (no one knows how Kiba gets these things) that had exploded in a geyser from her kitchen sink, splattering everything from the floors to the ceiling in the kitchen and dining room. She got her own eventually, but it was still a pain to clean up the mucous-y, viscous green _stuff_.

(Coincidentally, Kiba now despises the color green, and shudders violently at the mention of sludge bombs. TenTen is mum on the matter.)

Currently, the trap in the room was one of her own inventions, designed specifically for small bedrooms like hers and Lee's. If the small catch behind the door was pulled more than a scant five inches from its resting point, it would trigger a flame that would violently ignite the paper bomb taped to the back of the door. Theoretically, the blast would detonate outwards, sparing the contents of the room, but TenTen had been known to get carried away with the crafting of her explosive weapons…

When he was sure that the catch was firmly latched onto its mooring overhead, Lee opened the door wider so that Neji could help TenTen into the room. Her bed was closer to the window, whereas Lee's was closer to the door, and the bathroom. Neji knew, having been here several times already, that the walls were divided exactly in half down the middle, with vibrant green paint on one side, and a pastel pink on the other. Much as his inner perfectionist wanted to cringe at the clash of colors, it was an urge nonetheless quashed by repeated exposure to the travesty (in full daylight, no less!).

Lee watched anxiously for a moment as Neji rearranged their teammate beneath her, what else, daisy-spotted red covers and removed her blank sandals. These were placed neatly on the shoe rack by her bed, which sported several similar pairs in various colors, as well as others of a highly impractical nature that most people thought TenTen had the good sense not to wear. After a moment of hovering, Lee bounced back on his heels,

"I shall fetch some water, and painkillers," he said decisively, and charged off in the direction of the kitchen, which, given the small size of their apartment, was actually not far at all from the single bedroom. The medicine cabinet was better stocked than their refrigerator, for obvious reasons, but he had no problem locating the painkillers. A glass was quickly procured from the drying rack next to the sink and filled with cold water from the tap.

When he got back to the room, however, TenTen was sitting up, drowsy and agitated, and looking quite morose. Neji glanced back at him in the doorway, and his teammate's usually expressionless white eyes held a faint trace of bewilderment. Or was it panic?

Lee nonetheless soldiered on, with a blinding smile, "TenTen, are you thirsty? I have brought you water, should you wish to drink some."

It didn't appear that she was listening to him, picking absently instead at an embroidered flower on her bedcovers. The frown touching her lips deepened, and she sighed, a sound so abrupt it made him jump.

"TenTen," Neji said, voice calm and sure as usual, "You should rest—you have a big day tomorrow—"

"I don't want to hold you guys back," she blurted suddenly, and if her uncharacteristic mood hadn't alarmed them before, the glassy sheen to her eyes now definitely did, "I want you guys to get stronger, but I want—I want to be there to watch your backs too! I can't—I can't…"

Her hands gripped the covers in frustration—it was a funny thing, alcohol, at once loosening her inhibitions to be vulnerable as she never would allow herself to be when sober, yet halting her thoughts and speech so that she couldn't communicate as much as she wanted, how much they meant to her, how long she had struggled to be good enough to _not hold them back_, and how that was all useless now (_she_ was useless now), despite all of that work, and that nightmare… Oh gods, that nightmare…

Silence reigned in the apartment, and it is dark in the room, looming shadows cast by the faltering light of the moon. It was so early in the morning that there was not even the hint of dawn at the edges of the horizon, and her teammates don't say a word, for the longest time.

Then, a weary sigh, "Sleep, TenTen. It's late, you're drunk, and you have no idea what you're saying."

Lee was quick to chime in, "Yes, dearest TenTen! As if you could ever hold us back! You are our very precious teammate, and Team Gai would not be the same without our most youthful blossom!"

Her eyelids were drooping, even as Neji urged her to lie back with a firm hand, "I don't… want to be a burden," she murmured, as he pulled the covers back over her.

The last thing she heard before sleep claimed her is Neji's quiet statement, "You are _not_ a burden," and the echoes of Lee's affirmation.

(Her subconscious knew that this was untrue, because she is essentially a _grounded_ jounin now, but her teammates are ANBU, and _flying_, and she would be holding them back, if they deferred their positions to wait for her.)

Still, through the window, in the distant edge of the mountain ranges, the slightest lightening of the sky heralds the distant coming of the sun, as it had, and will for ages to come.

* * *

"I'm _late, _I'm_ late_!" was the blaring alarm that woke them up the next morning, followed by an inarticulate scream of panic and a series of rather alarming crashes. Neji resisted the urge to rub at his bleary eyes and stared up at the ceiling of the living room, one of the few white things in the colorful apartment. The sounds of the shower running started, and TenTen's muffled voice,

"Lee, can you send a message to Iruka-sensei, and tell him I'll meet my students on the balcony of office 502 of the Hokage Tower?" There was a much clearer answer in the affirmative, and Lee appeared in the doorway not long after that. Tiptoed footsteps (well, tiptoeing for Lee was rather like normal walking for everyone else) led to the apartment's balcony, where a few Messenger sparrows had made their nest.

Most jounin in Konoha knew where Messenger birds lived throughout the village. The majority of them lived in an aviary in the Hokage Tower, but several flocks lived scattered throughout the village. Highly intelligent, bred for speed and maneuverability, these birds worked for the ninja who would feed them when winter made food scarce, but they often seemed to find great amusement (or contempt) in these great, hulking creatures who were flightless and obviously could not deliver their own messages. It was unlikely that any of them would choose to live just outside a human dwelling, usually preferring the parks or the training grounds.

Of course, Lee, with his boundless love for animals, had managed to sneak a few woodland critters and Messenger sparrows into the apartment during the first two months of their lease, and even managed to keep their presence a secret from TenTen for all of five minutes after she had returned from a mission.

"_But TenTen, might I not keep a few squirrels and birds in my room for company? I shall take the utmost care of them or I shall do five thousand pushups in penance—"_

"_Lee, I'm not worried about that. But you _know_ that our lease said _no _pets—it's bad enough that we're in danger of losing our deposit the last time you put your foot through the floor."_

"_I have remained vigilant since then and removed my weights when entering the apartment! Please, please, TenTen, may I keep them? I should not like them starving in the training grounds, and they shall not bother you here!"_

"_Is that where you found them? Lee, they're wild animals!" she took a moment to look pointedly at a squirrel that was busily gnawing away at a leg of the coffee table. Others were rifling through the contents of the fruit basket on the countertop, and she could hear a chorus of chirps and fluttering wings coming from Lee's room. How many did he have in there? The entire flock? "They know how to find food for themselves, and they're even tougher if they live in the training grounds."_

"_But TenTen—"_

"_No, Lee."_

"_TenTen…" and he gave her the most pathetic look he could conjure, all sparkling, downcast eyes and protruding, quivering lip—dammit, she told him that wasn't going to work anymore!_

"No_, Lee. The puppy-dog face isn't gonna cut it this time either," and she promptly looked away so that she could keep her word._

_There was a beat, then, "Fine. I do not want them here anyway," she glanced back to see Lee with his arms crossed, nose upturned, and resolutely ignoring her. Aww, man… Lee was going into a Sulk._

_She sighed, "Lee—we're _ninja_, we can't take care of them," no response, "We can't keep this many anyway."_

_There was a mutter that sounded oddly like, "Well, it does not matter, because _I do not care_."_

"_C'mon Lee, don't be like that. I'll help you take them back, okay?"_

"_No thank you, I will take them back myself. I do not care if they stay or not," he repeated, and headed back towards his room with an exaggerated air of nonchalance. She sighed again. _Oh, Lee. As if pretending you don't want it makes you want it any less.

Of course, Lee's common sense (or lack of it) won out this time around, and within the week, some of the sparrows that he'd brought home had made their nest in the eaves of the roof above their had been delighted. TenTen had only looked at them and shrugged. _They're Messengers_, was the reason she gave her team. Neji privately thought she let them stay because she didn't want a disappointed Lee on her hands again, but kept silent.

By the time he had sat upright on the couch, Lee had scribbled a hurried note, folded it in careful fourths, and given it to one of the sparrows, which he had inexplicably named Nutty, "To Iruka-_sensei_ at the Academy, alright?" The little bird chirruped agreement and left with a flutter of tiny wings. Neji shook his head. Only Lee would manage to befriend something that was predisposed to look down on him. …_Wait_…

"Ah, Neji! Good morning! Did you sleep well?"

He made a noncommittal noise as he cast aside the green comforter onto the even greener monstrosity of a couch, stood and stretched, rolling his shoulders. A quick glance at the flower-shaped clock hanging on the sunny yellow walls told him that he had only managed to sleep for nearly four hours. Which wasn't all _that_ bad, except… He winced as he heard Lee hum something cheerful and ridiculously off-key as the stove started up.

Three eggs were cracked in quick succession into the first frying pan, strips of bacon in another, slices of bread popped into the toaster, and glasses and plates pulled out of the cupboards, ready for use; all this was done with a professional efficiency. A fact that most of Konoha did not know: when Lee wasn't experimenting with some crazy new "health" recipe, he was a _damn_ fine cook.

Neji folded the comforter he had used last night neatly and carried it to the tiny living room closet to deposit on the high shelf. At this point, there was another crash from the direction of the bedroom, and muffled curses. Figuring that meant the bathroom was now open, he headed in that direction, only to be nearly bowled over by a disgruntled TenTen, who was tossing back the pills they had left on the little dresser between the beds last night with water, hair wet and only half up in a bun, and feet struggling into black sandals.

"Here, TenTen!" Lee called, taking a slice of toast and deftly scooping an egg and two slices of bacon onto it, folding it in half before handing it to her, "Iruka-sensei should know by now, but it could take some time for your students to arrive at the Tower."

She promptly deposited the unfinished glass of water on the countertop and stuffed a corner of the sandwich into her mouth, "'Ank 'oo," she mumbled, and made for the doorway even as she swept up the rest of her hair into a second bun.

Neji shook his head in mild exasperation (and to be honest, quite a bit of amusement too) as he picked up a couple of her smaller weapons scrolls from the floor and tucked it into her belt as she passed by, which earned him barely intelligible _thank you_ as well. She nodded in assent to his offhand, "We'll bring your scrolls to the training grounds," and shot out the door.

Before the door closed, they caught sight of her vaulting over the railing of the stairs and taking off at a flat run once she hit the ground three stories below.

"Ah, how our teammate burns with the intensity of youth," Lee sighed, but the melodrama of the moment did not keep him from plating the rest of the eggs and bacon before they burned. Outside on the balcony, Nutty had returned, which set off a loud chorus of chirps as the sparrows clamored for their breakfast as well. Across the street, a dog began to bark raucously (perhaps as TenTen nearly ran it over in her mad dash towards the Hokage Tower).

Neji rolled his pale eyes as he locked the door of the bathroom behind him. It did nothing to drown out the morning racket that was characteristic of Lee and TenTen's apartment.

_At least_, he mused, looking at the discarded clothes and wet towel on the floor of the bathroom, _The Hyuuga Compound is quiet in the mornings._

_

* * *

_

Room 502. _Knock knock._

"Come in," a voice called from within, and she opened the door, breathing a bit harder, but an impish grin on her face nonetheless.

"Hey Shikamaru."

He barely glanced towards her, in a pose of absolute relaxation, legs propped up on the desk, chair tilted back on two legs against the wall, hands tucked behind his head, "TenTen."

TenTen rolled her eyes, taking deep breaths to calm her breathing. Apparently, even a full greeting was _too troublesome_. Still, it was Nara Shikamaru, pineapple-head, lazy genius _extraordinaire_, and she was used to his odd quirks.

There was a time when her slightly feministic tendencies and his old-fashioned views had clashed, back when they began serving on missions together, first as chuunin, then as jounin. As team leader, he would refuse to let her take risks, even when it should have been her judgment call, and the more she'd noticed that this only applied to her, and not to Neji, or Lee, the more angry she became. What, did he think she couldn't take of herself because she was a _girl_?

_How troublesome_, was his immediate response when she confronted him about it, then, somewhat sullenly, _It's not as though I think you're incompetent. I know that you can kick my butt in a battle hands-down. I'd just… feel bad if I didn't put up some kind of protest before I let you go and risk your life._

She'd stared at him, eyebrows raised as she contemplated the meaning of his words. _So… You're saying that… you were raised to look after girls, but if they make it too _troublesome_ for you, you'll give up?_

He'd paused, then walked away with an airy, _Too troublesome to explain._

TenTen grinned as she remembered the next day of the mission, when they had required someone to pick off the sentries of the guarded establishment they were entering. Obviously, this was the job for her, but Shikamaru had insisted that Kiba draw closer with Akamaru and incapacitate them silently. (_Kiba_, silently, _really_?) She had kicked up enough of a fuss that he finally sighed (troublesome) and looked up to the night sky, as though for inspiration as she triumphantly shouldered her scroll and slipped away.

But she could have sworn there was something like an exasperated smile on his face as she did so.

Nowadays, they were friends, even good friends, as she was "the least troublesome kunoichi" in his acquaintance, and she did need someone who was quiet and still to hang around once in a while. Of course, they still had their obligatory squabbles whenever they were on the same team, but they were learning to work through that quickly.

She was brought back to the present when he cocked an eyebrow at the ceiling, which was probably supposed to be directed at her, except the fact that it took an effort to turn his head, and heaven forbid that Shikamaru put an effort into anything,

"I'm meeting my new genin team on your balcony," she began without preamble, "So if three kids come knocking, let them through, okay?" She made her way to the screen door and slid it open, stepping out onto the balcony.

The lingering effects of her morning panic was fading, to be replaced by the bits of a hangover that the painkiller and water had been unable to dispel. She took another deep breath, and looked out over the railing. Shikamaru, that lucky jerk, had a rather awe-inspiring view over the village and of Hokage Mountain.

This was where Team Gai first met. It was appropriate that she would meet her team here.

"So what kind of mistake did they make upstairs to make you a genin instructor?"

She turned, or whirled back, more like, with a glare, "What—you saying I'll be a bad teacher or something?"

He shrugged, an action that was more like a slight tic in his neck, "Not saying anything. Did you fail the ANBU test then?"

TenTen scowled at that, and stomped back into the office, shutting the door with a sharp _snap_ behind her, "_No, _I passed," she bit out, plunking herself down on the floor by his chair.

This caught his attention, and he looked down at her for the first time, "Oh? And I don't suppose what's made you so angry has to do with whatever's made the Hokage mad too? She's been cussing about the Elders to anyone who's been near her office this week."

She grinned at the thought of her idol giving the Elders the verbal thrashing they deserved, and enjoyed the mental image so much that she filed it away to savor later, maybe with the addition of a physical thrashing to the daydream…

"Yea, maybe. They put me on probation 'cause I'm the youngest combat kunoichi to ever pass the test."

Shikamaru tilted his head pensively, "I imagine that would put the Hokage in a pissy mood. Kotetsu hasn't stopped complaining since it all started. Troublesome."

She snorted indelicately, "Since when has Kotetsu not complained about running petty errands?"

Whatever response he was going to make was stalled by a knock at the door. They exchanged glances, and he set the chair on all four legs once more before calling,

"Come in."

Hidden from sight by Shikamaru's desk, she couldn't see who it was that came in, but she heard the muted clicks as the door swung open and closed. He said nothing, but a girl's soft voice came timidly,

"U-umm, I'm here to…"

Her words trailed off as Shikamaru presumably continued looking at her in that piercing way he had, when he was gathering information. The audible sound of gulping was heard before Shikamaru finally pointed a lazy finger towards the balcony.

What followed was a quick shuffle towards the door as the girl all but fled from the room, only sliding the door open just enough to slip through, and closing it again.

TenTen looked up as he did downwards, and mouthed _who_? He shrugged for real this time, and gathered a pencil and a few sheets of paper from his desk. After scrawling a few words across the top of one of them, he passed the stack down to her.

The first was a sheet of correspondence written in code, with a green dot in the upper left-hand corner that marked it as a routine report. At the top, Shikamaru (the lazy bum) had written the words, "make yourself useful".

She gave him a _look_, eyebrows raised, as though to say, _Really? I gotta do _your_ work?_ Predictably, he ignored her, and she let out a silent sigh. Every time they hung out, he always found some way to try and fob his work on her. Granted, she was probably the only one of their circle of friends that found decoding work to be more of a boring task than a hassle, but one of the reasons she was a combat _kunoichi_ was so that she didn't have to be chained to a desk working nine to five.

She glanced over the document quickly. The code was simple, the most basic one that any ninja who had done any work with codes should know: take every fourth letter and piece them together. As a result, it was commonly known as Kidspeak, simply because agents in the field found it easier to use shorter, more basic words to write their messages. Handwriting done in a messy scribble by their non-dominant hand completed the ruse.

She was halfway through the letter (something inane about a dog and full of a child's misspellings) when another knock came at the door.

"Come in," and a mutter that followed, "Troublesome."

The door swung open and closed again. Quiet, but sure footsteps made their way across the room, not even stopping at the table for a greeting. Glancing up, she realized that Shikamaru hadn't even looked up from his work (contemplation of the tabletop, more like), merely pointed in the direction of the balcony once more.

Once the sliding door closed, he turned to look down at her with a raised eyebrow. She frowned, and mouthed, _What?_

Again he shrugged, the neck-tic this time, and returned to whatever he was doing with an amused smile playing about his lips. TenTen rolled her eyes and continued to transcribe the field report.

_evthng nml wthr gd nthg new brd 2 dth sakra_

She bit back a laugh. Sakura had been sent on an undercover B-rank last week to protect a caravan carrying sensitive cargo and from this report, it appeared that nothing had happened since she last sent the letter.

Finally, a knock on the door came for the third time, and before Shikamaru could even look up, the door opened, swinging fast on its hinges,

"Hi—I'm here to meet my team," a young male voice announced. Without waiting for a response, he continued, "Oh, is that the door to the balcony? I was told we were supposed to meet there. Thanks!"

As the sliding door closed behind him, Shikamaru looked down at her once more, a distinctly amused expression on his face. Outside on the balcony, the muted sound of conversation could be heard for the first time. TenTen only raised an eyebrow back and handed him the translated report, with an added note at the top.

She rose silently to her feet and padded to office door, opening it slowly so as not to make a noise, and slipped out into the hallway, giving Shikamaru a cheery wave before closing the door.

Shikamaru looked down at the report she had handed to him, and across the top, in her blocked, precise letters read the words, "Thanks, lazy-ass."

If rolling his eyes didn't take too much effort, he would have done it.

* * *

_A teacher must always know how to make an awe-inspiring entrance_! This had Gai-_sensei_ so declared to them in the first few and unforgettable seconds of their acquaintance, after his Dynamic Entry had blown the door of Office 502 right off of its hinges. Naturally, TenTen would never consider subjecting some poor genin to that sort of mortification, but it's not like that meant she didn't intend on making a flashy entrance.

This was easily done by reaching office 602, which was right above Shikamaru's office, and after quickly explaining her plan to a chuunin she didn't know, she was allowed access to the balcony. From there, she merely jumped off to land lightly on the rail below, behind her three students, who were watching the sliding door and eyeing each other occasionally.

It gave her no little bit of pleasure as all three whipped around to face her, varying degrees of shock on their faces. She stepped off of the rail and onto the bench with a bright smile,

"Good morning, Team."

When she had them seated on the bench, TenTen surveyed her three new students, who were now framed by the backdrop of Hokage Mountain. Only one visible set of eyes looked back. Of the other two, one set was hidden behind dark glasses, and the other was busily fixed to the floor.

"Sooo…" she drawled, idly flipping the kunai in her hand, "My name is TenTen, and I'm your new genin instructor. You may call me TenTen, or _Sensei_, but I'd really rather you didn't call me both at the same time. I specialize in weapons—you name it, I can use it," she paused to give them a reassuring smile, "Now, why don't you introduce yourself? Tell me your name and something about yourself."

She looked expectantly at her first student, a boy with unruly black hair and way too many clothes for a summer afternoon, and knew before he said anything which family's techniques she'd have to study up on tonight,

"Aburame Kenji." His voice was calm and sure, not at all muffled by the high collar he wore. What was left visible of his face below the reflective shades gave away a slight hint of impatience as he continued, "I have nothing to say."

TenTen tilted her head slightly to regard her first student pensively. Gai-sensei would have let that go, and worked on breaching the boy's defenses at a later date, likely when he would be too mortified and exhausted to fend his teacher off. Well, TenTen was _not _Gai-sensei.

"You don't have anything you'd like to share with your teammates?" she asked pleasantly enough, but the kunai was flipping faster and faster, until it was a blur in her hands, "I'm sure you can think of something." Again, there was no answer, but what appeared to be the beginnings of a frown was appearing at the corners of his mouth, "You could tell us why you want to be a ninja…?" she suggested.

There was a rather long pause as they stared each other down (or as she stared at her reflection in the lens of his sunglasses). The other two were silent, with only a slight rustle of cloth indicating that one of them had shifted in their seats. Finally, the young Aburame seemed to acquiesce, "I want to surpass my brother," he said quietly, but with such conviction that TenTen knew it was the truth.

O-_kay…_ she thought, _Time for a talk with Shino_, but put that aside for now, and smiled, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it? And…" she turned to her next student, who was _lounging_, there was no other word for it, against the balcony railing, an easy smile on his lips and a twinkle in his baby-blue eyes. _Cute_, TenTen thought, unimpressed, eyeing the way his dark brown hair was artfully mussed into careful points, _I'll bet my weapons scroll he thinks he's a lady-killer._

"Maeda Haruto. I want to become a ninja to protect my village…" the smile widened to reveal sparkling white teeth (still unimpressed—she had seen _much_ whiter), "and all the ladies in it."

TenTen managed not to raise her eyebrows at him, but only just, and it was a battle at that. Nonetheless, she offered him a welcoming smile, and turned towards her last student, a girl with hair the most vibrant shade of red she had ever seen, but her messy bangs covered her face as she kept her head down, "And what about you?"

There was a rather amusing squeak of alarm that emitted from the curtain of hair, and an unintelligible mumble that she couldn't hear even if she bent closer, "I'm sorry, honey, you're going to have to speak up—I can't hear you." _Honey? Honey? _Since when did she start channeling Ino? Oh right—when she started having someone like Hinata's younger self on her genin team. Note to self: talk to Hinata.

The young girl made an effort to speak up, but the volume came to just barely a whisper, "M-my name is Uchiha Chikako," here she fell silent, and TenTen waited for a moment before prompting, "And would you like to tell us something about yourself?" she ignored the chuckle of amusement coming from Haruto, "Maybe the reason why you want to become a ninja?"

Chikako stilled for a long moment, and finally looked up. Her dark eyes flinched a bit when they met her teacher's, but they were fierce behind the large, round glasses, "I want to make my father proud." And TenTen suddenly remembered where she had seen that shade of red hair before. _Clearly, a visit to the Uchiha Compound is in order as well…_ _But for now…_ She nodded.

"Okay, Team 8! This is good for our first day," she chose to ignore the varying degrees of incredulity on her students' faces, "_Tomorrow_," she stressed, "We begin the new stuff. Tonight, I want you to go home, and I want you to eat a good dinner, and rest well, but…" when she was sure that Haruto had stopped fidgeting and Kenji was really paying attention to her, she continued, "In the morning, don't eat breakfast. Any questions?"

Predictably, Haruto raised his hand, "What exactly are we doing tomorrow, Sensei?"

TenTen grinned, showing teeth, "A test. Didn't Iruka-sensei tell you guys? Only nine of the graduating class will officially move on to becoming genin," she waited a moment to let that sink in, "Okay? So don't eat breakfast unless you want to throw up tomorrow. Any other questions?"

They shook their heads. Well, Haruto did anyway, and since he was the mostly likely to ask, she assumed that he spoke for the group, "Then I'll see you guys here in front of the Tower tomorrow morning at seven sharp."

She stepped aside so they could all pass, and when she heard the door to the hallway swing closed, she entered the office once more. Shikamaru had already given up all pretense of working, and was leaning back in a familiar pose. He glanced at her as she shut the door behind her,

"How was it?"

TenTen shrugged expressively, still twirling her kunai, "Don't know yet," she looked at him curiously, "That girl…"

His eyes were still trained on the ceiling, but his chin dipped a fraction of an inch in a nod, "That's her all right. Forgot Sasuke's kid was graduating this year."

She resisted the urge to scowl, as she generally did when Sasuke's name was mentioned. Two years back, after the Great War, Sasuke had returned to Konoha, a small, red-haired girl in tow. _Her mother named her Chikako_, was all he said on the matter. He didn't have to say much more. The name of Sound ninja Karin had been listed among the names of the deceased, a girl who had followed Sasuke throughout the Five Countries and defected with him when he chose in the end to fight for Konoha. That hair color was exceedingly rare. Two plus two makes four.

TenTen sighed. She had nothing against the little girl (child of Sasuke-the-devilspawn though she was), and she knew how tough it was to grow up without a mother. She didn't want to imagine what it would be like to have a father figure as emotionally stunted as the Uchiha.

"I do have to talk to Shino though," she said absently, "Maybe he'll know something about Aburame Kenji."

"They're second cousins, or something, I believe," Shikamaru offered offhandedly.

"Okay," she said decisively, "I'll see if I can find him later today, or tomorrow. Thanks for letting me use the balcony, Shikamaru."

He snorted, "If you want to thank me, finish my paperwork."

TenTen stuck out her tongue at him, "Not a chance. Do your own damn paperwork."

"See if I ever let you borrow my office again," he groused, but didn't look unduly bothered.

She only laughed, heading for the door, "Nah. If I need it, I'll just get Ino to bully you into it. Or I could always threaten to tell her that the last time you skipped the team lunch was 'cause Temari came to town. Or… I could tell Temari that _someone_ in the Research Lab's taken a shine to you—oh, the possibilities…"

Shikamaru paled, and when he looked at her, the expression was pained, "I don't find that sort of thing funny at all."

Tenten only rolled her eyes good-naturedly, as though to say _you asked for it_, "You and your blondes, Shikamaru. How did a lazyass like you become so popular? Anyway, I'll see you later."

His voice stopped her again as she was halfway through the door,

"Oh wait. Before I forget—the Hokage wanted to see you in her office."

"...For what?"

"How do I know? Troublesome."

**A/N**: Umm, wow that was ridiculously long. And yea, before you say anything, no, there will be no character-bashing (even if Sasuke deserves to have some sense liberally smacked into him).

I don't know if I should be asking this but… Are there any pairings or characters you'd like to see…? I currently don't have many ideas for pairings, and I'm open to suggestions…

My thanks to **Kianie Black**, **teresita123**, **DarkAnonymous324**, and **YukixShuu** for reviewing, and for your kind words. This chapter is for you guys.


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